Railway staff upset over bifurcation of Palakkad division

A section of staff in the Palakkad division of the Southern Railway are upset over the Railway Board’s decision to detach the Mangaluru area from their division and merge it with the Mysuru division of the South Western Railway.

The decision is expected to be implemented on October 1. Functionaries of the Southern Railway Employees’ Sangh (SRES), affiliated with the Congress-aligned Indian National Trade Union Congress, say that almost 90% of the staff working in Mangaluru Central, Mangaluru Junction, and Panambur stations are from Keralam.

C. Janeesh, president, and K.P. Shynesh Kumar, secretary, Palakkad division, SRES, say that though the authorities have promised to accommodate most of them in their home State, it is unlikely to be practical. They point out that most of the incumbent staff in Mangaluru are posted in the maintenance and mechanical wings dealing with works such as repair of coaches and wagons.